The Battle of Iwo Jima

On February 23, 1945 the United States Marines raised our flag on Iwo Jima. It was day five of a thirty-five day battle in World War II.

The US sent 110,000 Marines in 880 ships into this battle. At the end of the battle, there were 6,821 Marines dead and 19,217 wounded. Think about those numbers. Almost 7,000 dead and over 19,000 wounded in 35 days. When you consider those numbers from one battle and then hear the number killed in Iraq (4,378 in eight years!) and Afghanistan (1,000 in eight years!), you begin to realize the toll World War II had on America.

The United States was in World War II from 1941-1945 and suffered 416,800 military deaths from the war. These men were 'The Greatest Generation.'

Reggie
2/23/2010

Learn more about the Battle of Iwo Jima here.